We've been busy lately. Stage 1 of his surgery is done. (Yep, he ended up needing the 2 stage surgery after all.) His surgery was scheduled for 12:45pm on Thursday. He had to be there by 11am. We got there a little earlier than that because he was REALLY nauseous at home and just really wanted to get in for some medicine. They got us in within 2 minutes. They gave him some Zofran that he put on his tongue to dissolve. He couldn't have anything to drink. It helped a little, but didn't last long. His surgery got moved back. The surgeon was held up and there was one patient scheduled for surgery ahead of Joey. I ended up leaving the pre-op room at 3:30 when they were about to take him back for anesthesia.
So I'm waiting in the waiting room. Just worrying and trying to stay calm. The surgeon came out at about 5:15pm and let us know the news. First, he said that Joey's case was the worst he's ever seen. At that point, I had to sit down to hear the rest. He said that Joey's rectum was completely embedded in his pelvis area. It was on top of his bladder. So no wonder Joey had been having so much bladder pain for the last week. Since last Saturday, he's been really nauseous and sick to his stomach. He's felt really crappy. Then the doctor said that he had to stop cutting because if he would have kept on, he would have ended up cutting into his bladder. His colon was really inflamed. So he called pathology in to do a biopsy of it right then and there. Luckily, it came back negative for anything. *sigh of relief* The doctor said that he removed about 8 inches of his colon. They didn't put it back together. They decided to give Joey's colon a break. Give it some time to heal and soften back to normal. They had to revert his colon and give him a colostomy bag. Joey really, really did not want to end up with a colostomy bag, but it really is for the best right now. His body needs time to heal.
The surgeon said they really don't know how long he has suffered from diverticulitis. He said his colon looks like he has had multiple bouts of diverticulitis. Heals, flare up, heals, flare up, etc. It never was able to fully heal. So he technically just kept getting worse. The scary thing is that his rectum could have eventually gotten so inflamed and hard that it exploded. Luckily, they pushed his surgery up instead of waiting until June 7th. The only reason they did that is because of the Gastro doctor who called the hospital to get him in earlier.
So he will have the colostomy bag for 4-6 weeks. Then they will go back in for stage 2. That will involve putting his colon back together minus the part they removed. He's still in the hospital now. He was told that he may get out today, but he's not now. His body is producing too much green bile right now. It's making him really nauseous and he's in a lot of pain. They're trying to keep him up and walking.
I'm ready for him to be home, but I know he's getting the care he needs while he is in the hospital. I know that he needs to be there right now. I am hoping that he has an easy recovery from here on out. I pray that his 2nd surgery goes well and he heals easy from that, too. I am just ready for all of this to be behind us and for my husband to longer be in the pain that he has gone through since February.
So that's the update on us.
I'm back in the saddle! I went for a run this evening. I wanted to calibrate my foot pod, but the junior high track near my house was completely closed. :/ I've ran there before (trespassing? who cares!), but today I had no way to get in. I went over to the high school track near my house, but it was full of high school athletes. NO THANKS. I do not want to be the fat old lady running around the track while they're working out. So I didn't calibrate my foot pod. I am thinking I may just have to do that over the weekend. Maybe there won't be any high school kids out there.
So instead I went out to the lake trail near my house. I enjoy the scenic view and the trail goes almost all around town. I used to bike the trail with a friend in high school, but it has changed a lot over the years. When I run out there, I normally go all the way to the last entrance and run on the sidewalk, but today I parked at the dog park and decided to run on the gravel trail. The weather was SO nice and there wasn't many people on the trail (at least not where I was). The thing that makes me mad about running on the trail is when people walk their dogs and don't pick up their poop! There were huge Great Dane sized turds all over the trail! It was fresh, too. I think I know which dog it was! I wish I would have known so that I could smart off say something to the rude owners.
Since I haven't ran in almost 3 weeks...I am so embarrassed to say that...I decided to just take it easy and do one mile. I have horrible shin splints so I did not want my leg to flare up if I pushed myself too hard. For not running in a while, I had a slow decent run. I ran it in 13:21. I cooled off, walked to my car, and then thought, "I could do another mile...". I knew I shouldn't so I didn't push myself. That's where I often mess up: pushing myself too hard too fast. So I talked myself out of talking myself into going another mile, lol. I needed to get home anyway because Joey needed to mow the lawn and was home with the baby.
Tomorrow I am going to take Brynlee to Jeanne's (Joey's step-mom) and go for a run. I asked her to watch her today so that I could run before Joey got home, but Brynlee was SO freaking fussy. So I put her down for a nap. Since I disappointed Jeanne, I said I'd bring her over tomorrow after I pick her up from daycare.
Anyway, I feel gggggggggggrrrrrrrrrrrrreat! =)
